New Drinking Liberally Chapter in Arlington

The approach of the 2005 election (now 93 days away) seems to be sparking the formation of Drinking Liberally chapters in Virginia. Last week I was able to tell my family about a new chapter in Richmond, and Monday one launches in Arlington, at the Rhodeside Grill near the Court House Metro. This chapter is so new that its info isn’t yet on the national DL site, but presumably that will be rectified soon.

If you’ve been thinking about attending DL but don’t like going into the city, or if you have a conflict on Thursdays, now you no longer have those excuses. And if you’ve been going to DCDL but feel that one night a week just isn’t enough for you, now you can go to both chapters!

Below is the message from John Craig, the chapter founder:

BOWLING ALONE: A BOOK-CHAPTER DISCUSSION

The new northern Virginia chapter of Drinking Liberally invites you to attend a discussion of an interesting chapter of an important book: Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community — Chapter 19 — “Economic Prosperity” (7 pages long, available from me in an Adobe Acrobat PDF file)

WHEN
Monday, August 8, 2005
6:30–8:30 PM

WHERE
Rhodeside Grill: Their quiet downstairs room

• Near Court House metro stop (in Virginia — orange line)
• Detailed directions are given below.

POSSIBLE UPCOMING TOPICS/EVENTS

• Sexuality and Politics: Women’s Issues and Homosexual Rights
• NRA Rifle Museum: A Field Trip
• XM Satellite Radio Headquarters: A Field Trip
• Rock-and-Roll and Politics: 1960s political songs
• Hiking Liberally: A day hike with a political topic.

ABOUT THE BOOK BOWLING ALONE
Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, asserts that American communities have declined dramatically in the past 40 years, creating an America in which people feel isolated and alienated. The dramatic disintegration of social ties and connectedness in American life has created “a U.S. population that is increasingly isolated and less
empathetic toward its fellow citizens, that is often angrier and less willing to unite in communities or as a nation.” (—Publisher’s Weekly)

We will use this chapter as a springboard for our discussion, which will center on the feeling of isolation and alienation in 21st-century American society — and its economic and political consequences.

Publishers Weekly: A short review of Bowling Alone:

In this alarming and important study, Putnam, a professor of sociology at Harvard, charts the grievous deterioration over the past two generations of the organized ways in which people relate to one another and partake in civil life in the U.S.

For example, in 1960, 62.8% of Americans of voting age participated in the presidential election, whereas by 1996, the percentage had slipped to 48.9%. While most Americans still claim a serious “religious commitment,” church attendance is down roughly 25%–50% from the 1950s, and the number of Americans who attended public meetings of any kind dropped 40% between 1973 and 1994. Even the once stable norm of community life has shifted: one in five Americans moves once a year, while two in five expect to move in five years.

Putnam claims that this has created a U.S. population that is increasingly isolated and less empathetic toward its fellow citizens, that is often angrier and less willing to unite in communities or as a nation.

Marshaling a plentiful array of facts, figures, charts and survey results, Putnam delivers his message with verve and clarity. He concludes his analysis with a concise set of potential solutions, such as educational programs, work-based initiatives and funded community-service programs, offering a ray of hope in what he perceives to be a dire situation.”

THE STRUCTURE OF OUR MEETING
I’ll talk a little about the book and about this particular chapter, passing out a paper copy of the chapter to those who do not have one. Then we’ll have an open discussion, which will include the entire group. (We may also break into small groups of 6 or 7 for a while.) Share your
thoughts or just come to listen. Please bring personal or business cards to share with those you meet, if you like.

TO GET THE BOWLING ALONE CHAPTER ON PDF FILE NOW
Please email me and ask me to send you a copy (or I can mail you a paper copy via U.S. mail): john.craig@aya.yale.edu

WHY WE OFTEN WILL DISCUSS JUST ONE CHAPTER OF A BOOK
We will often take just one chapter of an important book (related to politics) and use that chapter as a springboard for our discussion. In our fast-paced world, it is often hard to find time to read an entire book. But one chapter can serve as an introduction to the book, which you
might then decide to read in its entirety. The reading will usually be available in a PDF file that I will create for you, so you don’t need to buy the book. Also, the reading will usually be
short enough so you can read it quickly, perhaps on the way to the meeting.

NOTE: This discussion is NOT part of an ongoing discussion of Bowling Alone in which we now happen to be on Chapter 19. Rather, I thought it would be interesting to read Chapter 19 because it is interesting, short, and a good sample of what the book has to offer. Please come even if you have not had time to read the chapter — to share your ideas about
community in America today.

LINK TO AMAZON DESCRIPTION OF BOWLING ALONE
Here is a link to the Amazon description of Bowling Alone:
http://www.amazon.com/…

DIRECTIONS TO THE RHODESIDE GRILL
1836 Wilson Blvd. (at Rhodes St.)
Arlington, VA 22201
Phone: (703) 243-0145
Take the Metro orange line to the Court House metro stop. There is only one set of escalators coming out of the station. As you come out of the station, you will come to three signs (left, right, straight ahead). You want to go straight ahead: follow the sign that says “Wilson Blvd,
Colonial Village.”

As you come up the stairs and out of the station, turn right in order to face Wilson Blvd. Walk straight ahead fifty feet to Wilson Blvd. and turn left and go straight down Wilson. You will pass some cafes and then begin to head down the hill. You will see a Wendy’s on your right (across the street), then a Wachovia Bank, Taco Bell, and Hollywood Video. You will be
passing the red brick buildings and lawns of Colonial Village apartments (on your left).

At the bottom of the hill you will see, across the street the Rhodeside Grill (at the corner of Wilson and Rhode St.). We will meet in the basement room.

A GOOD, QUIET LOCATION: RHODESIDE GRILL
I have been told that we will have the entire downstairs room of the Rhodeside Grill to ourselves, and that the TVs and music will be turned off. This will give us a quiet place to talk.

If you desire food or drink, you will need to go upstairs to order it and get it. If our group grows in size, the Grill may assign a service person to our party.

LINK TO THE YAHOO MAP OF THE RHODESIDE GRILL
http://yp.yahoo.com/…

TOPICS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS OF NOVA DRINKING LIBERALLY

• SEXUALITY AND POLITICS
  We will focus on the conscious and unconscious psychological trigger issues that are driving politics today: women’s rights, abortion issues, homosexual rights.
• NRA RIFLE MUSEUM: A field trip (Fairfax, VA)
  Meet the opposition on its own turf: bring your water pistols and kay-pop guns, and be ready for a skirmish! Discussion afterwards, at another (restaurant) location. (Participate in the visit only, the discussion only, or both.)
• XM SATELLITE RADIO HEADQUARTERS: A field trip
  We will go on an official tour of the huge XM headquarters in DC, home to 140 radio channels, a growing number of which have a liberal/progressive orientation. (Located near the relatively new New York Avenue red-line metro station). Discussion afterward on the new opportunities today in progressive radio. (Participate in the visit only, the discussion only, or both.)
• ROCK-AND-ROLL AND POLITICS
  A look at 1960s political songs, from Bob Dylan to Peter, Paul and Mary to the Kingston Trio: from “With God on Our Side” to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”. Plus the harder, rock-and-roll political songs.
• HIKING LIBERALLY
  A possible hike in the Virginia mountains (but not a long drive), in the fall.

CONTACT INFORMATION
I am starting this new DL Nova chapter on my own right now, but I may soon be working with one or two co-leaders. Please feel free to contact me for more information.

I may have new/different contact info soon, when this new Nova DL group is fully set up and running. Until then, please contact me at:
john.craig@aya.yale.edu
571-432-0305 (not a cell phone)

QUOTES FROM CHAPTER 19 OF BOWLING ALONE

A growing body of research suggests that where trust and social networks flourish, individuals, firms, neighborhoods, and even nations prosper.

People who grow up in well-to-do families with economically valuable social ties are more likely to succeed in the economic marketplace, not merely because they tend to be richer and better educated, but also because they can and will ply their connections.

Another, slightly different “social-capital” approach is at the root of the economic miracle in California’s Silicon Valley…. The success is due largely to the horizontal networks of informal and formal cooperation that developed among fledgling companies in the area…. They developed trade associations, industry conferences, and even a “Homebrew Computer Club,” a hobbyists’ group from whose ranks came the leaders of more than twenty computer companies.

… When we can’t trust our employees or other market players, we end up squandering our wealth on surveillance equipment, compliance structures, insurance, and legal services.

In 1940 Tupelo, Mississippi, … a university-trained sociologist … returned home. Through exceptional leadership he united Tupelo’s business and civic leaders around the idea that the town … would never develop economically until they had developed as a community. [He] persuaded local … farmers to pool their money to buy a siring bull…. The town’s elite Chamber of Commerce was disbanded and a Community Development Foundation open to everyone was started in its place. [This project was extraordinarily successful and gained worldwide attention.]

… the frequency of church attendance is one of the strongest predictors of
whether inner-city black youths will become gainfully employed … It is the social networking aspect of churchgoing … that is behind these youth’s economic success.